


And What We Have Common is Pain

by from_nova



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dialogue Heavy, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, May-centric, Mentions of Death, Possible season 4 spoilers, based off stuff from a promo, but can read as buddie, no buddie, vague mentions to suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27279775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/from_nova/pseuds/from_nova
Summary: May struggles through the challenges of being a first responder when she gets a job as a 9-1-1 dispatcher. The first responders around her help guide her through them and learn about herself and the job.
Relationships: Athena Grant & May Grant, Eddie Diaz & May Grant (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & May Grant, Henrietta "Hen" Wilson & May Grant, Howie "Chimney" Han & May Grant, Maddie Buckley & May Grant, May Grant & Bobby Nash, May Grant & Michael Grant (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 55





	And What We Have Common is Pain

May could feel Maddie’s eyes on her as she picked at her sandwich. Her last call was a little intense and Maddie had dragged her into the break room after they were both done on their respected calls. Her stare was hot and making goosebumps roll up May’s arms. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Maddie asks with a light voice. May just slowly looked up to meet the soft eyes staring back at her. Maybe she was thinking this was worse than it actually was. 

“Talk about what?” She asks, making Maddie roll her eyes.

“That call.” May tenses at the mention. “I’ve had bad calls before. They happen. Talk to me.”

May watches hesitantly as Maddie takes an eager bite of her reheated mac and cheese. She groans as she looks down at her stomach. “If you don’t start talking, I’m gonna go on a pregnancy tangent and you’ll wish you just talked.”

They both smile at that and May starts telling Maddie about the stabbing victim that she had just been talking to. “I’ve just never felt so helpless. There was a man on the other end of the phone who needed me and I was here. At least when I was with Vicki, I could put pressure on the wound and physically help. I’m stuck here though.”

Maddie had a soft, almost nostalgic, smile on her face. “We all get that when you have field experience. It’s why Hen’s studying to be a doctor. I almost left dispatch to go back to nursing. I did a ride along with Athena once to get what happens out there and see why my role here matters.”

“I’m not doing a ride along with my mom.” May says getting rigid. “Or any other cop for that matter.”

Maddie admires her drive for a minute as she sits with her arms crossed over her chest and a damning glare in her eye. She’s got fire and passion for her if she figures out how to use it.

“I didn’t say you had to. Hen’s gonna be out next week for testing. Why don’t you talk to Bobby and do a ride along with Chim? He’d be more than happy.”

“You think Bobby won’t mind? I don’t want to have them be a man down for it.”  
“Maybe you can bring Buck so he can drive the ambo around, but you should be fine. He can sit in the back while you take shotgun.” The devilish glint in Maddie’s eye makes May laugh as she goes to pick up her sandwich again.

“So, how has your first week been?” Maddie adds with an investigative tone.

“Good.”

“You are such a liar.” Maddie laughs as May tries avoiding the conversation by eating her sandwich quicker. “It’s okay though. I’ll get it out of you. Actually,”

Maddie looks at her phone on the table before continuing. “Do you wanna go out with Albert, Chim and I? The guys wanna go out to the karaoke bar, but Howie’s all worked up because he doesn’t want to go without me. He also doesn’t want me to go, because he’ll be drinking with me right there.” She punctuates the sentence with looking down at her growing belly. 

“Um, sure. I’d love to.” May says with a smile.

\---

“May!” She hears yelled as she walks towards the table where the Han brothers sit. She flashes a smile at Albert as she slides off her jacket and sits next to him.

“Where’s Maddie?” She asks as Chimney’s eyes dart around the bar. “Bathroom. The pregnancy is destroying her bladder.”

May nods as Albert starts asking her about school. They talk about it for a minute, but quickly switch to Albert’s big career hunt.

“I tried a baking class. Let’s just say, it is not the job for me.” He laughs as Chimney shakes his head. “Yeah, my kitchen will never be the same.”

May lets out a laugh as Maddie waddles up to the table. Chimney quickly pulls out the chair across from May right before Maddie falls into it. She sighs as her hand lands on her belly. May smiles at her as Maddie looks up to greet her.

“God, thank you so much for coming, May.” Maddie says as she meets her eyes. “These two are insistent on coming here, but Chimney doesn’t like leaving me home alone.”

“I’m always happy to be your sober buddy.” May laughs as Chimney looks sheepish. “It’s nice to be with you outside of work too.”

Maddie goes to respond as Albert’s name gets called on stage for karaoke. She looks at him in shock as Albert asks her to come sing with him. 

“You’ll like this one. I promise.” He says before helping her out of her chair and up the stage. Chimney watches with worry the whole way until they’re settled on stage and start singing some song May doesn’t really know.

“So, how’s dispatch? The Missus showing you the ropes.” Chimney asks as he watches Albert try to dance. 

“Missus implies you finally put a ring on it, Howard.” She holds a smirk as Chimney glares at her while taking a big swig from his beer.

“I’m working on it.” He states before pushing the conversation back towards the topic of May. “How’s dispatch though? Really? Are you loving it? Hating it?”

“I’d say it’s good, but Maddie says it’s not convincing.” May replies as she focuses on twirling her straw around in her drink.

“She’s been doing that to me when I get moody about Hen leaving.” Chimney says with a glazed over look in his eye. “So, tell me about it. Maddie was telling me that you seemed to be in the makings for a really good dispatcher.”

May smiles at that and nods. Maddie and Josh have been very firm yet loving as they tell her how to do the job. “It’s just a lot to take in. Actually Maddie mentioned that maybe I could do a ride along with you when Hen’s testing next week. She said she did one with my mom.”  
“Sounds like fun. Bobby was just planning on having Buck help me since he can drive the ambulance now. We should strap him to the gurney while we drive around.” May laughs as the light comes back in his eyes.

“You and Maddie were so made for each other.” She says as Maddie and Albert start making their way back to them.

“Yeah, I like to think so.” He says before getting up and helping her into her seat. She shoos him and rolls her eyes affectionately at him before shooting a smile at May.

“Mayyyy, I think you should sing soon. Everyone does it. House rules.” She sign-songs as her hand intertwines with Chimney’s. May watches as they start lovingly talking to each other

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Albert whispers leaning close to her. May smiles up at him with that. 

“They do this alot?”

“All the time. It’s been worse since the baby.” He says while casting questioning eyebrows towards his brother.

“I think it’s pretty cute.” May says before sipping on her drink.

“Yeah, Albert. We’re cute.” Chimney says in a mocking tone. “You could take May and go sing. I know you’ve been wanting to sing some Spice Girls lately.”

Albert sits there in confusion for a minute before May leaps out of her seat and tells him to follow her up to the stage. She was happy to finally be seen as an adult and treated as an equal rather than Athena’s daughter. So, maybe she’s gonna sing her heart out to Wannabe while Albert fumbles through all besides the chorus. She’s gonna have fun doing it though. That was for sure.

\---

“Are you ready for this?” Chimney asks as May climbs into the passenger seat of the ambulance. She smiles and nods as Buck sticks his face up front by them. 

“Do I really have to be alone back here?” Chim turns around and looks him dead in the eyes before responding. “Buckaroo, guest of honor gets the passenger’s seat. You be good or I’ll strap you to the gurney.” 

Buck furrows his eyebrows as he sits on the bench and they leave the station. May looks around the different buttons in the cab of the ambulance as Chimney starts driving toward the local gas station.

“I waited to fuel up. I didn’t think you really wanted to sit in the station with Bobby.” May raises her eyebrows at Chimney’s statement. He parks the ambo and laughs at the look on her face. “There’s a reason you did this with me, right? I’m all for you not being Bobby’s step-daughter or Athena’s daughter today. Today’s about dispatcher May.”

May rolls her eyes at how smug he is when he adds the last part. She’s grateful for the sentiment though. He’s far from wrong - she really did want to be able to be May Grant and not Bobby’s daughter, which she already heard herself being called at the station today. She looks back at where Chim stood to see him at the pump now. With nothing else to do, she looks in the back to see if Buck wants to talk. All she’s met with is a dopey grin as he types away at his phone. She watches for a minute before Chimney steps back in the doorway. He laughs as he sees where her line of sight is. 

“Is he texting?” He whispers trying to see around the seat. May just nods before glancing back to him. “Maddie thinks he’s talking to someone. Like romantically.” 

“No way.” May whispers back as Buck’s laughter fills the ambulance. Chimney just nods eagerly before walking off to hang the gas nozzle back up and collect the receipt. When he climbs back in, he pulls up into an empty parking spot and starts telling May about all the stuff inside of it. She listens as he shows her the sirens and road system that connects him to dispatch. As they start to finish, a call comes over the radio.

“Are you ready for this?” He asks before bringing them back onto the road. “Buckaroo! Stop texting. I need you!”

“I wasn’t texting.” Buck yelps as he puts the phone down quickly. 

“You think that was convincing?” Chimney asks looking in the rearview mirror at him. 

“It wasn- that’s not the point here.” Buck cuts himself off quickly. “What’s the call?”

“Sounds like a gsw, but we’ll see.” Chimney focuses on the road again as people move out of the way. 

“So a gunshot wound.” May states as they arrive and the ambulance is parked.

Chim smiles and nods at her before he gets out and moves to open the back for Buck. May scurries to keep up with him as they pull the gurney and backboard out. They move further onto the property with Chimney yelling out to see where the call came from. May hears a faint response and starts leading them towards the sounds.

“Thank god. Mark, they’re here!” May shoots a look at Buck who rushes towards the voice. Once around the corner and into the backyard, they see a kid who’s pushing on a teenager’s bloody leg. The kid is rushing to explain how his brother was messing with the gun when it shot and bounced back at them to Chimney with his blood-covered phone resting next to him with Maddie’s voice flowing out of it. Buck grabs the phone and informs Maddie that they’re on the scene and responding before hanging up. Chimney is wrapping the wound and having Buck help move him on to the gurney soon after.

“He’s gonna be fine, right? The lady on the phone said you’d get here and help him, but he’s gonna be okay, right? I didn’t mean to do it. I swear! She said to push on the spot.” The kid rushes out as they move into the ambulance.

Chim smiles at the kid and tells him he did a great job. A patrol car had pulled up as they got in view of the ambulance so an officer was walking up to stay with the kid and get information as they spoke. Chimney looks between the kid and May as he tells the kid that the lady on the phone was there to help and it’s good he listened. 

After that, they pull the gurney into the ambulance and are heading off before May realizes what happened.

\---

May was 5 seconds from pounding her head into the table. Chimney had suggested at one point that she learn some of the basic medical protocols so she can help guide better and know what would happen once the paramedics got there. She was sitting at the Wilson’s kitchen table and regretting taking his advice. Hen was watching her out of the corner of her eye as she reviewed her own stuff for med school.

“I just don’t get this,” May groaned in frustration as she threw herself back in her chair. When she moves back to the laptop in front of her, she pushes the heels of her hands into her eyes. This was a BASIC medical procedure. How was she supposed to tell people how to handle the situations when she couldn’t keep track of them?

“May, you need to take a breath. Let’s take five and come back, yeah? Stepping away can help you refocus.” Hen says as she starts pulling May away from the dinner table. “Karen, we need a music break. Got anything fun?” 

Karen smiles from where she was sitting in the living room with her own work. She quickly jumps up and turns on the tv’s stereo system. May glances between them in confusion. This seemed too routine, like they did it a thousand times before. She goes to say something when a soft melody starts playing through the speakers. Hen grabs Karen sweetly as the opening vocals start playing.

“Do. Do-da-da-do. Ah” She hears hummed around the room as the couple share a small kiss. May would normally feel awkward at being the third wheel suddenly, but the love between the two was sweet and it melted away the stress just watching them. Karen looks up at May in that moment and reaches for her. May smiles as she gets pulled into a group hug as the lyrics to Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” flows through the air. 

The two sway to the beat pulling May with them. She starts to smile as the couple sings along to the chorus. “Ooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby. And we'll linger on. Time can't erase a feeling this strong.” 

“Do you guys do this a lot?” May asks, feeling a little sheepish for breaking the moment.

Hen just smiles at her and nods. They lead her to the couch between them with warm smiles.

“We all have stressors in our lives. It’s easier for us to walk away when things get too much and just feel the love for each other.” Karen ends the sentence with a loving gaze towards her wife.

“It’s hard to be a first responder and be a medical student at the same time. Family helps and music helps with everything.” May thinks about responding as a smirk crosses Hen’s lips. “This next song is my favorite. Chimney and I always sing it at karaoke.”

“Maddie and Chimney actually invited me to their last karaoke outing. I think they wanted a friend for Albert… and then a friend for Maddie once they started drinking.” May laughs as they listen to the opening beat and ramblings to the song.

“Sounds about right.” Hen smiles as she starts getting out of her seat. May watches as she starts rapping along to a slightly familiar song. “It's going down, fade to blackstreet. The homies got rb, collab' creations. Bump like acne, no doubt. I put it down, never slouch.”

As they get deeper into watching Hen’s performance, May turns to Karen and whispers “Was this in Pitch Perfect?”

Karen giggles at that and whispers back. “It was, but don’t let Hen know that that’s where you know this from. You’ll never go back to your studying.”

Hen wonders over and pulls May to sing with her as the chorus starts. “I like the way you work it. No diggity, I got to bag it up, bag it up.”

When May starts leading into the next repetition, she sees Karen dancing along with her phone camera open. A blush covers the young Grant’s cheeks as she smiles and starts singing a little lighter. Hen notices and starts pulling May’s wrists into her hands forcing her to dance.

“Lighten up, May. I’ll keep this going longer if you don’t start getting into it.” May just giggles at that and starts dancing along more. “You gotta take the lessons as the world hands them to ya, Sweetheart. Stress sucks, but you gotta find a way to move on.”

“Thanks, guys.” She smiles as Karen starts bumping into them as a new throwback starts. 

\---

May watches in the corner of her eye as Eddie moves into the living room. He glances at her as she brings her focus back on her phone. There’s the sound of denim brushing against denim before the spot on the other end of the couch is filled.

“Hi, how’s it going?” She asks, turning her phone off.

“Good. Really good,” He smiles at that and May thinks back to overhearing about him getting back into the dating pool from her mom and Bobby. “Christopher’s been even more of a social butterfly since camp so it’s nice to have him here with Harry. We’ve hit the “I’m not as cool as kids his own age” stage.” 

May laughs and nods at that. “Harry’s been more clingy since I started working at dispatch, so I’ve got the complete opposite. He wants to know all about the calls I got. It’s like his mom isn’t a police officer and step-dad a firefighter.”

“That’s right! You started at dispatch a couple weeks ago. How’s it going?” Eddie asks as they hear Bobby’s laugh flow from the kitchen. Eddie looks behind him, but upon realizing he can’t see the couple, he returns his focus onto May again.

“It’s been okay. Something new.” Eddie raises his eyebrows at that. 

“So, you don’t like it?” He counters as she starts fidgeting with her phone like it’ll pull attention from her.

“I didn’t say that.” Eddie’s eyebrows just go up higher and she sighs. “I love helping people, but I feel out of my depth there.” 

With a nod, Eddie leans back against the arm of the couch and tucks his ankle under his leg. “Tell me about it.”

“I’m young, right? I know that. You know that. I just got out of high school and I’m a young black woman. It just feels like people are judging me for being young there. I get that I’m not the most knowledgeable on everything or have the experience they do, but I’m there to learn and help people. Why do they need to give me looks when I clock in or when I ask Maddie to help me on something?”

Eddie gives her a look of sympathy before nodding and responding. “It’s not exactly the same, but here’s a story. It’s not something I’ve told a lot of people because it’s not worth it; but when I got back from the Army, my wife almost immediately left.”

May’s eyes widen with shock and anger which pulls a smile onto Eddie’s face. The passion behind her shows often. Once there’s a direction to it, he knows she’ll kill it in this job.

“It was with good reason and the rest of that is another conversation for another time.” He says to which she rolls her eyes, but nods to indicate he should continue. “But Shannon left and Christopher was 3 at the time, and I had barely been on the same continent as him for most of his life. I had no idea how to raise a kid.”

“My parent’s were the people judging my every move and trying to micromanage me. They insisted I give him to them, because I wasn’t fit to raise him and I would “drag him down with me”. Eddie is sure to emphasize his point with air quotes. He hates the topic at hand, but the support May shows in her facial expressions and body language is something he appreciates. Her nose is scrunched up in disgust and her shoulders are heavy with anger.

“And that’s when I decided LA was a good place to go. I have my Abuela to help guide me here. A new family. People who love me and Chris. I feel like I fail him still at times, but I love him and try to be the best for him. I know I’m doing a better job than my parents did.”

May’s eyes soften as she lets the anger fade and looks at him with sympathy. “You’re a great dad, Eddie.”

“Thanks, May, but that’s not the point here right? The story is to relate to your job. I was inexperienced in being a dad. I made mistakes. I learned from them and together Christopher and I taught each other how to be better and grow. You’re going to have people who don’t support you or doubt you and you are always going to be stronger than them. You have the drive and the hope to show them how amazing you are. Don’t let some assholes tell you how good you are at your job, because you have the characteristics of being a great dispatcher. With the time and effort you put into learning the job and how to help people, you will become an amazing dispatcher. Plus you have Maddie and Josh to support you.” 

May looks away as tears start to bubble in her eyes and Eddie reaches a hand out to knock her shoulder and get her to look up at him. He goes to speak when Bobby walks into the room and asks one of them to get the boys while they set the table. Eddie just nods and stands before sending May a prideful smile. “They might become your best friend even. Buck was the worst to me when I started.”

\---

“So, you’ve been working at dispatch for over a month now” May hears her mom say as she takes the seat next to her at the table. She crosses her arms and stares at May as she continues, “And I’ve heard just about nothing about it. Wanna tell me why that is?”

May glanced at her mom reluctantly as she swallowed the food she was chewing. “May, I feel lost right now. It’s been a long time since you kept secrets from me and I was giving you space. This is a tough line of work though and I won’t lose you when I don’t need to. So talk to me.”

Athena’s hand wraps around May’s wrist as she finishes talking. “It’s not an easy job, you’re right, but you won’t lose me, Mom.”

“I feel like I already lost you, May.” She responds in a hurt tone that sends May spiraling.

“I’ve been learning how to live life as an adult, Mom. I’m still living here for now, but this is my first real job and maybe I just wanted independence with it.” Athena looks taken back at that.

“I never said you couldn’t have independence.” She sneers as May rolls her eyes and pulls back.

“Listen to me. Everyday, I get looks from people who don’t know me or someone has to make the point that I’m your kid. Or even Bobby’s kid. It’s not who I am or who you are - it’s the fact that I want an identity of my own.” May sits straighter as she continues, “I know that you’re upset that I decided to not go to school. I really can’t take you being disappointed with how I do the job.”

Athena narrows her eyes for a moment before sighing and letting herself decompress. “Who said I was angry about you not going to college?”

“You did. To Dad and Bobby. I heard all about how ‘you wanted better for me’.” May huffs as Athena’s face fills with recognition.

“I said that I was shocked by your decision. I want what’s best for you. I did the same thing you did after spending the time and money on school. You can do whatever you want, baby. I’ll always be proud of you.”

“You’re sure?” May asks with a sniffle.

“Always.” Athena promises, “Now, tell me all about it.”

\---

May’s curled up in her blanket as she tries to stop the sobs flowing through her. She should’ve known better. She isn’t meant for this job. These are people in their most pressing moments and May should’ve known that she would have to hear the worst. She pulled the blanket further over her head as she tried to drown out the cries that filled her ears only an hour earlier. It’s overwhelming to the point where she almost misses the knock on her door. 

“Go away, Mom!” She yells even though it’s muffled by the blanket and her voice is already hoarse from crying. 

“Not Athena.” A voice says from her now open doorway. The tone is small for the almost always happy man.

“What do you want, Buck?” She questions as she turns to look at him.

“Heard you had a rough call.” May huffs at that and looks away from him as the tears start building again.

“Hey, okay, bad opener.” He says, in a rush, as he sits on the edge of her bed. 

“Buck, I’m not sure why you’re here, but I don’t really feel like reliving that call.” May says sitting up against her headboard. Her comforter wrapped all around her making her look small and tear tracks follow her face pulling a trail of make-up with it. Buck pulls himself to sit opposite of at the foot of the bed.

“You know, my first death on a call was pretty rough.”

“Buc-” May starts whining but stops when he locks eyes with her. There’s a layer of pain in his face. He’s not a fan of the topic, but he’ll talk about it with May to try to help. May doesn’t like it, but she’ll let him try.

“Something your mom told me what part of the reason we wear these uniforms is because at the end of the day we can take them off at the end of the day and leave what we saw with it.” May looks down at the blue shirt she never took off. The static from the material rubbing on her blanket is making it stick in places and there’s a few drying tear spots.

“How about this,” Buck starts making her focus her tear-blurred eyes on him again. “You go take a shower. Try to reset. Relax a little and if you still don’t want to talk about it after that, then we’ll watch something funny on tv and eat the cookies that Bobby’s stress baking.”

May winces at that. “He’s already stress baking?” Buck does a mockingly sad nod as May groans. She agrees though and Buck leaves while telling her that he’ll be in the living room or kitchen if she needs him. 

She silently gathers her some comfortable clothing and a towel before moving out of the room into the bathroom 

\---

“Buck?” May asks as she enters the kitchen where Bobby had just pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven and was whispering with Buck and Athena. Buck turns from his place on the dining room side of the island and smiles at her. “Wanna talk?” 

May just nods and he goes to open the slider door and lead her to the chairs on the porch. Before he can talk, she looks at him and starts herself.

“This isn’t just something I can forget about and move on, Buck.” May says as the tears fill her waterline again.

“Trust me, I know.” He says, while nodding without much rhythm or purpose. He glances into the house where her mom and step-dad were obviously watching.

“You started mentioning your first death on a call earlier.” She tries to direct the attention to the conversation again.

“Yeah,” Buck gives a sad smile as he looks down at his hands. “His name was Devin. He could’ve been saved, but he, uh, he didn’t want to be.”

May’s eyes follow him sadly as he picks at the skin on his lips as he continues speaking. “I did all that I could, but nothing I did could’ve changed the situation. It was in Devin’s hands and he made a choice.” 

“The guy on the other end of that phone didn’t have a choice, Buck. He was alone and in pain. The ambulance was at least 5 minutes away when the line went silent.” Buck nods as she tells him all she can bear to.

“May, we’ve all been there too.” Buck pushes out while trying to figure out how to make May calm down. Her face drops as she looks at Buck who’s trying not to cry. “Lots of us have been there. When we get there too late and have to see and deal with the aftermath, the lack of power you feel. You’ve been wondering what you could’ve done better to save him, right? Nothing, May. You did all you could.”

May shakes her head at that and tries to vocalize her disagreement, but Buck looks at her and the tears on his cheeks are telling enough that maybe she should just listen. “I couldn’t wrap my head around why Devin wouldn’t just grab my hand and let me save him. Until a long time later. It’s not an easy thing to go through and someday you’ll see it how I see it. That this job isn’t just helping people. It’s also being with them in their most vulnerable moments and maybe being with them at the end. We all encounter it and I know you’re strong enough to push through. You’re strong enough to keep doing the job. I’ve learned that while caring hurts you more, it makes you a hella lot better at the job. I’ve never seen someone with as much passion as you have. It’s hard sometimes, but you gotta use it for good.”

“Buck, I can’t listen to people die all the time.” She whispers.

“You won’t. It’ll happen and that’s awful, but you’ll help so much more people than you’ll encounter death. I think you should pay Frank a visit though. He’s a lot better than the therapist they had when I needed one.” He adds with a soft smile. 

May just nods and Buck holds his arms open to hug her. She steps forward and buries herself in the gentle giant. “I know this is tough and I’m really sorry that you got that call today and I hope you’re okay.”

May just nods as she steps back. A weak laugh flows out of her as she brushes the last of her tears away. Buck claps his hands and basically skips toward the door. “Now let’s go get some of these cookies before Harry gets home and tries to eat them all.” 

\---

“Dad?” May asks as she sees her dad and Bobby dropping tools and building supplies on a tarp in the living room.

“May! Hey, how’s it going? I heard you had a rough week.” He says pulling her into a hug while shooting a small look at Bobby.

“That’s not why you're back from your trip early, right? I’m okay - I swear.” Michael just laughs at the teen before reassuring her that he was here, because they need his boyfriend back for a work emergency.

“Your mom said the fire pit has to go.” Bobby says after a minute. They all stare at the replacement from when they destroyed the actual fireplace.

“She’s right, though” May says before moving into the kitchen.

“You can be who we bounce ideas off of then!” Michael calls to her. She peaks her head back in with a cup of coffee now.

“I’m free until 3, then I have work.” She informs as she moves around them to the chair furthest from the firepit-thing.

“How’s that going?” Michael asks as he sketches an idea.

“Um, pretty good. I’m learning how it all works and it’s not easy. I really like helping people, though.” Bobby smiles at her as Michael finishes his rough sketch. 

“Good for you.” He replies, “Always knew you’d end up doing something like this. Got the passion and were always so caring. I’m proud of you.”  
He holds up the sketch, “Now- will she love it or hate it?”

“I think you got a winner there, Dad.” He smiles at that and wanders off to grab something.

“You know, if you ever need anything,” Bobby starts, but May just smiles and finishes the sentence for him. “I have a whole family of first responders to guide me through it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Kudos and comments are very appreciated.
> 
> Find me on tumblr: @from-nova
> 
> title from "poetic justice" by kendrick lamar


End file.
